The Loren Merchant Group
Cawit met a futile death, and the subordinates behind him plunged into despair. No matter how they looked at it, defying the Bagan standing before them would only lead to death. But Bagan wasn't the type to care about their circumstances.
"You were in on it too."
The crimes they had committed were far too great to forgive. With a sharp slash, the criminals' blood sprayed in every direction. Walls, furniture, even the boxes filled with gold and the coins themselves became soaked in red, their value plummeting in real time. As if traces mattered. He had simply punished criminals. From the start, Bagan had never been the sort to concern himself with such things.
"Was it a little under sixty?"
Bagan counted the number of escaped criminals. Excluding those who had died here and there, it probably didn't even reach fifty. The presences he sensed throughout the mansion suggested as much. Three had just died in the study, including Cawit, so once he dealt with everyone remaining in the mansion, the numbers would add up.
He couldn't see them with his eyes, but he could pinpoint their locations. Bagan created various elemental missiles in the air. They were simply magic missiles infused with attributes, but adding the basic elements of fire, water, earth, and wind caused their power to surge dramatically. There were well over a hundred of them.
No matter how much his release-type magic had been strengthened by his traits, he couldn't predict how the criminals might react.
'Unlikely, but some might survive a direct hit.'
With that chilling thought, Bagan reabsorbed the various elemental spells he had manifested. It was a technique that created a sort of tether between his body and the magic, allowing him to recall and manipulate the spells he had launched. Like controlling marionette puppets, threads of mana connected to the spells and guided them precisely to their targets.
It was a skill he had used before, but striking visible opponents and striking invisible ones were difficulties on entirely different scales. Even so, Bagan felt confident. With the core situated near his heart and a solid understanding of magical principles, it was entirely feasible.
'The more I learn about magic, the more fascinating it becomes.'
Of course, this was possible because Bagan thoroughly understood this world's magic and because the core existed.
'That core is practically the same as acquiring a new S-grade trait.'
Operating the core—which felt like outright cheating—he simultaneously fired hundreds of spells. Controlling each one individually would have been laborious, but since he only needed to provide sensory direction, it wasn't impossible.
With sharp whistling sounds, magic missiles imbued with the energies of fire, water, earth, and wind flew out windows, through doors, piercing floors and ceilings alike to pierce the hearts of criminals who had yet to grasp the gravity of the situation.
"W-what the hell is that! Aaaargh!"
Screams echoed throughout the entire lord's castle. They were mostly death throes, but they provided clear proof that every attack was finding its mark.
Those struck by fire-infused missiles had their hearts burned away, leaving only scorched traces. Water-infused missiles quenched flames that threatened to spread to nearby furniture, while some victims had their hearts petrified and died without making a sound. Those hit by wind-infused missiles suffered more than pierced hearts—the compressed air exploded, blowing their upper bodies apart.
Any expectation of survival had become impossibly distant.
The castle was now stained with blood. Sensing that no one had survived, Bagan spoke to Sally.
"No need to show any mercy. Let's finish this quickly and leave."
Sally, in her spirit form, nodded and formed a door in the air.
With a creak, the door opened, generating a powerful suction that drew in the criminals' lingering souls. The time of judgment had arrived.
The reunited Dawn's Wolf pulled their carriage toward the lord's castle that held the twenty-five thousand gold.
"Ugh."
Upon arriving at the lord's castle, Paul wrinkled his nose at the overwhelming stench of blood. With roughly fifty people's worth of blood spilled, it was no surprise the entire castle was drenched in it.
"But why is it so quiet?"
Bagan had definitely come to the lord's castle, yet not a single sound could be heard. The eerie atmosphere made Reina, dressed only in thin cloth garments, wrap her arms around her shoulders to ward off the chill. Combined with the darkening sky, the blood-soaked castle emanated a deeply unsettling aura.
"Whatever happened, we need to find the money first."
Determined to do what they could, they left the carriages waiting and entered the building.
"This is..."
Inside, they found criminals killed in various ways—some burned to death, others with exploded hearts and rolled-back eyes, and some with only their lower bodies remaining.
"It's too much."
Reina, guessing Bagan was responsible, barely suppressed the urge to retch as she continued examining the scene.
"If you had the same power, you would have done the same."
But Paul's thoughts differed. The determination not to lose any more precious comrades had hardened his heart. The good-natured Paul from before was gone. He believed that living too kindly was what had led to this situation.
When Reina acknowledged his mindset, she had nothing more to say. Amid the slightly awkward atmosphere, they continued their search until they stopped in one particular room.
"It's cold, so put these on for now."
Even Paul, wearing relatively warm leather armor, felt the chill. The women dressed only in cloth garments must have been freezing. While searching the room, they found a wardrobe with neatly embroidered clothes. Without worrying about it being theft, they took the garments and distributed them.
"Thank you."
Reina and Natalie, who had already been cold, layered the extra clothing. Once warmer, Reina began thinking.
"But where did they take the money?"
It was a large wooden box that could completely fill one carriage's cargo space. And there had been five of them, so moving them quickly wouldn't have been easy.
"Where is the room used by the one who seemed to be the criminals' leader?"
The reason for seeking such a room was simple. In these situations, valuables were usually taken to the place considered safest—which would be the leader's quarters.
"I'm not sure. I think it was on the second floor..."
They had been dragged around by the criminals and hadn't memorized the layout.
"Then let's head to the second floor first."
Since they hadn't found anything on the first floor, they moved to the staircase leading to the second. The second floor was likewise littered with criminals' corpses. Though they should have grown used to it by now, the metallic smell of blood still stung their noses. The walls, originally painted light green, were now so soaked in blood they appeared entirely red.
After thoroughly searching the second floor, they found five massive boxes filled with gold.
"So he killed this one too."
However, Reina's attention wasn't on the gold but on Cawit's severed head lying there. He had toyed with them so cruelly, telling them to abandon hope, that only rage remained in her heart. Perhaps that was why she felt some regret that he had died so pathetically.
Thud.
She nudged his head with her foot. It was a grotesque act, but his eyes were already dead. Pushing down her complicated feelings, she checked on the still-cowering Natalie. Natalie's eyes remained swollen.
Reina had quickly wiped her tears and composed herself, but Natalie couldn't do the same. Seeing Paul had been a relief, but not seeing Bagan might be the reason. Or perhaps she simply hadn't found stability yet. A warm bath might have helped her calm down, but now wasn't the time.
At that moment, Paul checked the boxes.
"Three boxes are sealed, but two are open. The gold in the open ones is stained with blood, so its value has dropped."
It was unfortunate news. Originally they should have taken all twenty-five thousand gold to the Loren Trading Company and claimed ownership, but now they would have to find another way.
Paul and Reina thought hard, but no easy solution came to mind.
"That man came to this city and killed the lord. And the lord was wealthy. There must be money left in the castle."
The answer came unexpectedly from Natalie.
"That's it!"
Reina took the hand of the still-shrinking Natalie. Natalie was simply shy and didn't speak much; she was by no means stupid. In fact, from Reina's perspective, she was in a completely different league—one Reina herself envied. Her sense of direction might be a little off, but in every other aspect she was perfect. Even Paul acknowledged this.
"Good. Let's search again. They must have stored the money in a warehouse or similar place."
Paul removed all the blood-stained gold, keeping only the clean coins. He divided them into one box and discarded the rest. In the end, they secured about seventeen thousand gold.
They left the study and headed straight for the basement to find the previous lord's warehouse. They had already searched the first and second floors thoroughly, leaving only the attic and basement. Since the attic had limited space and people rarely stored money there, they went directly to the basement.
As expected, the basement contained a large cavern that had been used as a warehouse. Various supplies and food stores were preserved there. Among them were items that gleamed brilliantly—things that could be converted to money, along with piles of coins.
"We should take as much gold as possible."
The three brought empty boxes from the warehouse and filled them with as much gold as they could. The problem was how to carry them out. The boxes filled with gold were incredibly heavy. Even with the sturdy Paul, it would be too much for one person.
"I'll bring the coachmen."
In the end, Paul had no choice but to run out. As he was about to leave the basement—
"What are you doing here?"
Bagan descended the stairs.
"Sir Bagan!"
It was Natalie. She straightened her previously hunched posture and ran to him. With movements befitting a beastman, she moved so swiftly that even Bagan couldn't hide his joy at seeing her.
"Natalie, you're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
At Bagan's immediate concern, Natalie nodded. Wrapped in his warm embrace, she felt the comfort she had longed for and quickly found her calm.
"So, what were you trying to do down here?"
Bagan asked while holding Natalie inside his coat. The flustered Paul quickly composed himself and explained the situation.
"We were trying to properly return the money before leaving."
"It would definitely get awkward if this developed into an issue between nations."
Understanding completely, Bagan made a light gesture that caused the boxes filled with gold to float. Reina and Paul were startled by the boxes hovering in midair, but they soon realized it was Bagan's magic and relaxed.
"I'll bring the boxes from the second floor too, so let's head up."
Since he had just come from there, Bagan knew exactly where the boxes were. Naturally, his magic allowed him to levitate anything he could locate.
"Thank you for everything."
"We are grateful. Not only for rescuing us, but for this as well."
Paul and Reina expressed their thanks, and Natalie mumbled something from within Bagan's arms. Though her words weren't clear, the grateful tone was unmistakable. Bagan nodded and returned to the surface.
"That trading company is located on a hill outside the city, right? Arien, can you find them?"
In the darkened city, he couldn't see as far as the hill, and while he could use detection magic, Arien had already scattered her clones, making it simpler to ask her.
"Arien was going to mention this several minutes ago, but they have entered the territory from the hill. They are still moving and should arrive in front of the lord's castle in approximately two minutes."
As Bagan had expected, she had already located the Loren Trading Company and was monitoring them. While internal forces were one thing, external forces could be surprisingly troublesome, so she had kept track. However, she hadn't anticipated they would move first.
"That's what she says. Well, they must have run into some problem."
The cause of that problem was the carriage that couldn't return due to Bagan's surprise attack, but he neither knew this nor particularly cared to find out. How convenient that the people he was going to visit had come to him instead. That was all he thought.
And exactly as Arien had said, two minutes later a large procession stopped in front of the lord's castle. Since he had been waiting for them, Bagan naturally stepped forward to greet them.
"Hm. You've arrived."
"You've arrived?"
Loren felt puzzled by Bagan's casual tone and asked.
"What happened to the lord of this place?"
"I killed him. He was one of the criminals I was chasing."
Bagan saw no reason to hide the truth.
"I see."
Loren didn't seem particularly surprised.
"Then what about my money? No, my slaves."
Loren scanned the surroundings as if searching. His gaze stopped on Reina and Natalie.
"Ah, hahaha! So that's what this was. Now I understand."
Loren even clapped his hands as he grasped the situation.
"The criminals were pretending to be the lord and scammed me. And you came all the way here to retrieve your own slaves?"
Loren still thought of Reina and Natalie as slaves. Bagan, who had been listening quietly, reached the limit of his patience. But at that moment, Paul stepped forward.
"I will handle this."
He approached Bagan as he spoke. Seeing Paul's confident stance, Bagan's anger subsided slightly.